CNN.com - Woman sues video game manufacturer - Jul 27, 2005
CNN.com - Woman sues video game manufacturer - Jul 27, 2005
You wanna know how frickin’ pitiful our society, nay our parenting has become in this society. This 85 year old ‘grandparent’ (using this term loosely) is suing Rockstar because of the recent controversy with nudity/sex in a game rated ‘M’ for mature. She bought the game for her 14-year old grandson. ‘M’ rating is 17 and over….grandson is 14…..’M’ rating is 17 and over……find the missing link here. Perhaps you shouldn’t be buying mature titles for your little sonny boy there if he’s not ready to handle it.
GTA: San Andreas is a game where you are supposed to rob and kill…anything and anyone. In fact, you can pick up a prostitute and have simulated sex (though not shown, the sounds are there) in a car rocking the suspension like Ron Jeremy. So the fact that now that there’s nudity, the game is no longer safe for 17 and above. We need to change the rating to ‘AO’, adults only . .. . . which makes it 18 and over….WHOA. . . .you got pissed 17 year olds goin’ crazy all over the place. The real difference is intended to slice at the company’s profit as the game now will not be sold at the ever moral Wal-mart, Target, Best Buy, or Circuit City.
But the real problem lies with the parents who are buying games, and this goes for music and any other form of entertainment, for their kids without knowing what they are buying. Then they get mad at the company producing them because they didn’t have the ‘time, energy, passion, love, discipline, or respect’ for parenting to look into what their kid was doing. Hell, the game is called ‘GRAND THEFT AUTO’; it’s safe to say that you shouldn’t let your kid play a game that is named after a crime!
Lastly, Congress is so ridiculously slow right now that they have time to investigate a video game. I mean, seriously, a video game. It’s not as if the video gaming industry will bring the country to it’s knees. Today’s parentless kids will do that long before any kind of media. Shouldn’t Congress investigate oil alternatives, or oil companies ridiculous profits right now, or North Korea, or anything outside of the entertainment industry!?! I was indifferently positive to Hilary Clinton but now….notsomuch….
2 Responses to “CNN.com - Woman sues video game manufacturer - Jul 27, 2005”
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
you are very right on this, it is definitely the parents responsibility to check out ratings, and even then, the product before handing it over to the children. some g rated things still have things in them that i wouldn’t want my children to see, so ratings still may not be enough. maybe there should be a common sense law, that if you buy something rated M for a 14 year old (or with a crime in the name) your complaints should be null and void.
Parents need to take the lead on this one, I totally agree. However, the govt feels it is their responsiblity to be everyones parent…three years late or not. There is a rating system for a reason. I have watched and played GTA myself and did not feel it was appropriate for my son who is 10 because it had a MA rating. The other parent in his life, unfortunately, felt it was ok (happy mom at this point can you tell:) The child was banned from playing it at either household after numerous talks to the male parent which resulted in no viewpoint changes. However, the child saw my point, or felt he couldn’t keep his sister from telling, and therefore does not play the game anymore.
Then there comes my dilemma in what to keep away from children and what the govt rating system really means. We have to look at general television shows now. All the major networks allow all but three cuss words that I can think of to be aired on primetime television. I know the rating systems are out there to “protect” our children, but does it really keep them away from it or does it encourage them to go after it? I know when I was a kid, whatever my parents told me to stay away from or tried to shield me from was the first thing I got my hands on when I was away from the house.
Side note: My mother tried to keep me away from the movie “Jungle Fever” and look at me now ma;)